Learn to give your attention to what is most important to you
Audible stimulants are all around us. With so much around that we could be listening to it’s important to learn skills that can be adopted to improve what we give our attention to. So that we can give more attention to what will help us and learn to tune out the sounds that deter us.
In this post I’m going to share how a quote from the film Sister Act describes how aligning your purpose to what you are listening to can great feelings of connectivity and being insync.
What is listening and why does it matter
There are a number of definitions for what listening is. I personally think that listening is more than just giving your attention to a sound. Which has been given as a definition of listening. I feel listening is more about what you do after your attention has been given to a sound. This definition has been described as “take notice of and act on what someone says; respond to advice or a request”. This definition explicitly notes what someone has said, but it can be applied to a broader array of sounds, like a car alarm, emergency service sirens, music, traffic light beeps and your own self talk.
The way we listen and, more importantly, what we choose to listen to – give our attention to – matters because of what we do afterwards. If we listen to the sounds of the traffic light alerting us that we can cross the road and stay stationary. We will not get across the road and be late for a meeting, train, date, concert etc. If we listen to the opinions of our inner critic over the push and encouragement from our intuition we’ll begin to believe that our ambitions are hung much higher than we are able to reach.
How can listening be improved?
One way to improve your listening is to be more aware of what you are listening to. Listening has been defined as giving “one’s attention to a sound”. Being aware of what sounds take the majority of your attention is a good place to start to identify if your attention is being taken by constructive or destructive sounds.
Another way to improve listening is to not only be more aware of what you are listening to. But to also be more intentional about how you act on that sound. There is a quote from the film Sister Act that I feel describes this really well.
The scene starts with Sister Mary Clarence being given the opportunity to lead the choir. The choir collectively has the singing ability but they are disconnected. After some reshuffling, Sister Mary Clarence is able to get the choir to sing a note together for a few seconds. And they are chuffed. But she is quick to let them know that singing a note together for a few seconds isn’t enough. That in order to sing as a group, they need to listen to each other. Not only that, they need to think about what they are singing and from somewhere deep inside put a piece of themselves in it. So that they aren’t just going through the motions of singing, but rather singing with purpose.
It’s through giving their attention to those around them, taking notice of it and being intentional about how they act on what has taken their attention. That, over time, they are able to come together as a group and perform. Listening is a skill that can be improved over time, and can be a tool to create positive change.
Listening to feel more connected and insync
Many of our responses to what we listen to are done on auto-pilot. We can thank our internal computers for that. Our brains are able to take in a vast and varied amount of stimuli all at once, and filter out the ones we don’t need to pay attention to.
Think about the last time you walked into a cafe. Despite the background music playing from the speakers, the operational bang, whoosh, clank and ting of the equipment and utensils needed to process each order and the chattering of the other customers. The beaconing sound that signifies it’s your turn to place an order manages to cut through all of it. It’s an example of how the brain steers your attention to what is needed to complete the intended action, and elevate it above all else.
Our daily lives are filled with stimuli. Some will keep us on course to achieving our goals, while others will act as a distraction and deterrent. Improving the way we listen will help teach our brains to elevate that what aid us to feel more connected and insync with a greater purpose to break through, and push all the other stimuli into the background.
